Power-operated gun mount



Nov, 11, 1947. Jl Q T'ROTTER 2,430,747

PWER OPERATED GUN MOUNT Filed Jan. so, 1945 4 sheets-sheet 1 INVENTOR f ATT RNEYS Nov. 1l, 1947. .1. c. TROTTER 2,430,747

POWER OPERATED GUN MOUNT Filed Jan. 3o, 1943 4 Sheng-sheet 2 @@@W GMM ATT NEYS v .1.V c. TROTTER POWER OPERATED GUN MOUNT Filed Jan. so, 194s 4 sheets-Sheet s INVENTOR Nov. 11,` 1947. J. c. TRQTTER l 2,430,747

POWER OPERATE GUN MOUNT Patented Nov. 11, 1947 UNITED STATES TENT OFFICE John C.,Trotter, Williamsville, N. y., assigner to Bell Aircraft Corporation, Buffalo, N. Y.

Application January 30, 1943, Serial N'o. 474,106

(Cl. SSL-375) Claims. l

This invention relates to ordnance, `'and more particularly to improved gun mount and gun aim control means for use in conjunction with machine guns, cannon, or the like When mounted upon aircraft.

lOne of the objects of the invention is to provide an improved gun inount and gun aim control arrangement 'for combat aircraft wherein the gun battery is mounted in improved manner for universal aiming adjustments at an extremity of the aircraft structure While provision is 'inade for accommodation 'of the gunner at a position remote from the gun battery, and wherein gun sight and gun aim control devices are mounted adjacent the position of 'the gunner and connected to the gun battery by improved control actuation means. Another object of the invention is to provide an improved combination gun mount and ejected link receiver device which is mounted upon fixed supporting structure in such manner as to provi-de improved rigidity and stability of the gun battery, and in this respect the present invention embodies improvements over my earlier filed application Serial No. 438,400 led April 10, 1942'. Another object of the invention is to provide an improved ammunition feeding arrangement in conjunction With a gun battery arrangement of the type referred to. Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the specification hereinafter.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a gun battery and gun sight and gun aiin control arrangement of the invention, illustrated as being mounted in conjunction with a nose or tail turret of an aircraft;

Fig; 2 is an elevation of lche gun battery and sight arrangement viewed from the right in Fig. l:

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary section, on an enlarged scale, of a motor device of Ythe gun aim control mechanism;

Fig. 4 is an elevation, on an enlarged scale, of the gun battery aim control means viewed from the left in Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a 'top plan of the mechanism of Fig. 4 with portions Ybroken away;

Fig. 6 is a side view thereof; and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary section taken along lines VIIe-VII of Fig; 5i

The invention is illustrated in the drawings 'as being embodied in a gun battery mounted within a blister or turret portion In of an aircraft which is indicated generally at I2. The gun battery comprises a pair of parallel guns having casing portions indicated at I4-l4 and barrels l5-I5 extending therefrom. The guns are separately mounted upon corresponding paired bearer cradles I6 so as to be slidable thereon in response to recoil forces of the gun firing operations; the guns being carried by means of longitudinally spaced slide brackets l'l-I'l extending from the guns to slidably' engage the cradle frames. Hydraulic or spring shock absorbers and counterrecoil devices as indicated at i8 are connected to extend between relatively moving parts of the guns and the cradle frames to cushion the recoil forces of the gun ring operation and to provide the required lcounter-recoil movements of the guns.

The cradle frames iii-I6 are interconnected at their forward ends by a cross tie member 2t and at their rear ends by a bracket 2| to provide the 'gun mount frame to be of integral unit form. At positions intermediately of the guns a pair of bracket arms 22-22 extend from the cradle frame in vertically extending parallel spaced relation to pivotally connect upon a trunnion bearing 24 carried by the upper end portions of a gun mount fork 26, for pivotal aiming adjustments of the gun in elevation. The fork 26 is formed at its lower end with a stub shaft portion 21 which is rotatably carried Within a bearing 28 carried by a block 29 which is in turn supA ported by a cross bar 30 extending transversely between spaced leg portions of a tubular frame 32 carried by the aircraft structure. As illustrated by Fig. 2, the frame 32 is generally U- shaped in end View, and includes a second cross bar 34 at the upper reaches thereof. A bearing block 36 subterids from the cross bar 34 in opposed relation with respect to the bearing block 28 carried by the lower cross bar 30.

A G-shaped bracket 40 extends rigidly from the fork 26 and is provided at its upper end with a stub shaft 31 which is rotatably carried Within the bearing block 36; whereby the fork-bracket unit is mounted upon the frame 32 so as to be freely rotatable about the aligned vertical axes of the bearing blocks 28-36. Thus, the gun bat-A tery is freely rotatable as a unit with the fork` bracket assembly upon the bearings '2B- 36 for azimuth adjustments of the gun battery aim, while the guns are freely rotatable relative to the fork 2S about the horizontal axis' of the beare ing 2d for elevational adjustments of the gun battery aim.

The central body portion of the bracket is interiorly shaped to be substantially concentric of the axis of the trunnion bearing 24, and a assure? o circular plate i2 is slide-fitted against each side of the bracket 40 to provide in conjunction therewith a drum-like unit disposed between the guns l-l concentrioally of the elevational aiming axis thereof. rIhe side plates 42-52 are connected to the brackets 22-22 so that the plates rotate with the guns in connection with elevational aiming adjustments of the gun battery; and the plates LiZ-QZ are each slotted in registry with the ejected cartridge belt link port of the corresponding gun, whereby the cartridge belt links will be projected through the slotted portions of the side plates i2-42 into the drum-like receiver and will thereupon fall in response to the forces of gravity out of an apertured neck portion lie of the receiver for discharge below the aircraft.

To feed ammunition to the guns Eel-Mi a cartridge belt guide device is mounted adjacent the ammunition feedway port of each of the guns. Each cartridge belt guide device comprises a bracket 52 (Fig. 2) extending from xed connections to the corresponding gun mount frame member l5, as by means of fasteners d (Fig. l). Each bracket 52 carries a frame 5e which is centrally apertured to permit the cartridge belt to be threaded therethrough forfeeding into the corresponding gun ammunition feedway. Each frame 55 mounts at intervals peripherally thereof a plurality of rollers 58 disposed to rotatably receive therebetween and guide for rotational movement thereon a guide plate 6&3 having a circular peripheral track portion 62 engaged between the rollers 58 in positionally fixed but-rotationally free relation. Each guide plate Sil' is centrally slotted as at 63 and carries a pair of spaced parallel cartridge belt guide rollers Sli-S5 disposed parallel to the slotted portion of the guide plate for receiving therebetween a cartridge belt for threading through the guide frame 5S into the ammunition feedway of the gun.

The cartridge belts for` feeding the guns will be arranged to train from magazines behind the guns through positions alongside the guns and thereabove, and thence between the guide rolls 66-65 and thence into the ammunition feedway ports of the guns with freely feeding movements. It will be understood that inasmuch as the guide plates S-EG are rotatably mounted by means of the rollers 58 relative to the gun carried frames 56, the plates 60 will rotate freely in response to angularly directed pulls by the cartridge belts against the guide rolls Sli-55 in such manner as to enable the guide rollers to bisect the angle between the directions of cartridge belt movement toward the guide rollers and from the guide rollers toward the gun ammunition feedways. Thus, acute twisting and turning of the belts in the region of the gun ammunition feedways will be avoided, and it will be understood that such automatic adjustments of the guide plates will take place under all conditions of elevational aiming adjustments of the gun battery relative to the aircraft fixed structure, and that therefore an improved ammunition feed arrangement will exist under all conditions of gun aiming adjustments.

To provide aiming adjustments of the gun battery, separate elevational control and azimuth control motor devices are employed. For this purpose the bracket Iii) is arranged to house a vane type fluid pressure motor case l0. As illustrated in detail in Fig. 3, the motor case lil is of generally segmental sectional form having its apex concentric of the trunnion bearing 2li. More specifically, the motor case is illustrated as i comprising a housing formed of opposed side walls 'if-7M; an arcuate end wall 12; and opposite converging radial walls 'ld-'M leading from the end wall l2 into a semi-circular wall portion 1S arranged concentrically of the trunnion bearing 2d. The motor case wall portions are assembled by means of bolts ll.

The motor case mounts a motor shaft 78 which is keyed'to the hub of a vane type piston 8e, as at Si?. The piston Seis preferably lined with a resilient packing material as indicated Vat 84 for pressure-sealing the sliding contact between the piston and the motor case. The packing material extends about the hub of the piston, as indicated at 8%, so as to seal the bearing between the piston hub and the circular wall portion le of the motor case, whereby the piston is adapted to divide the interior of the motor case intovtwo pressure sealed compartments. The motor case includes fluid inlet-outlet ports at opposite sides of the piston, as indicated at 96-92 whereby iiuid conduit devices 93-ii5 may be connected into open communication with the interior of the motor case at opposite sides of the piston Se for application of fluid pressure forces alternately against opposite sides of the piston ed. The motor shaft 'le is keyed to the gun mount frame brackets 22, whereby upon oscillation of the piston Sil within the motor case lli the gun mount frame cradling the guns Eli will be simultaneously oscillated for elevational adjustments of the gun battery aim about the axis of the trunnion bearing 2s.

To provide fluid pressure responsive actuation of the motor piston 8E), as referred to hereinabove, the conduits 9S-9@ will be preferably of torsionally flexible type, at least insofar as they extend into communication as at with corresponding semi-rigid conduit members Ele- 91, such as may be formed of solid metal tubing or the like. At their opposite ends the conduits Sltsl connect into open communication with fluid intake-outlet ports sii-S9 of a hydraulic pump which is indicated generally at HBS (Figs.

The pump led may be of any suitable hydraulic pressure type pump, but is preferably of the continuous operation variable capacity type such, for example, as is disclosed in U. S. Patent 2,280,- 875, wherein means are provided for reversing the flow of duid within the .pump and varying the output thereof from zero to maximum capacity while the pump maintains continuous operation. Inasmuch as such pumping devices are now well known in the art and are presently being manufactured and made available to the purchasing public, the pump of the illustration will not be described in further detail. An electric motor indicated generally at H02 (Fig. 4) is provided as an integral part of the pumping device for driving the latter, and it will be understood that the motor H32 will be arranged to be energized through lead-out power conductor means i533 connected to any suitable power supply source. Y

To control the direction of fiuid discharge and the rate of displacement thereof by the pumping device ll, the control member of the pumping mechanism is arranged to extend vertically from the motor case as indicated at H34 (Fig. 4); the control member les being in the form of a shaft adapted to be rotated axially for manipulation of the control devices of the pumping mechanism in response to oppositely directed rotative movements of the control member |04 away from the neutral position thereof. Thus, the pump will be caused to circulate fluid under pressure through the closed circuit system comprising the conduits 93-94 and connections 98-99 in corresponding opposite directions, and at rates of displacement depending upon the degree of rotation of the control member |04 away from its l neutral position.

For example, rotation of the control member |04 in clockwise direction away from its neutral position will cause fluid to be circulated through the conduit system associated with the motor case 'I0 in such manner as to drive the piston 80 in one direction, while opposite rotation of the control member |04 will cause the piston 80 to be driven Vin the opposite direction; and'ih''any case the rate of movement of the piston 80 within the motor case 1|! will depend upon the degree of rotation of the control member |04 away from its neutral position and will be irrespective of the magnitude of forces reacting against such movements of the piston 80 and consequently even though the loads upon the piston 80 associated with adjusting the elevational aim of the gun battery may vary widely under different conditions of gun aiming adjustment, the rate of gun aiming movements will simply depend upon the degree of control movement imparted by the gunner to the control member |04. It is because of this arrangement that the gun battery of the invention is responsive to control operation thereof in an improved manner, and whereby even though the control mechanism for the gun battery may be located at a position quite remote from the position of the gun battery the gunner will obtain immediate and accurate aim adjustments of the gun battery responsive to his manipulations of the control device.

To control the gun battery aim in azimuth a motor device H0' identical in form to the motor 't0 described hereinabove is mounted upon the fixed bracket 30 and is arranged to have its motor shaft coupled to the gun battery support yoke 26 which is rotatably carried by the bearing 28. Opposite nuid conduits ||2| |4 are coupled into the case of the motor I0 at opposite sides of the piston thereof, as explained hereinabove in connection with the motor and the conduits |2| t4 in turn connect at their other ends into iiuid inlet-outlet connections ||6-||1 of a sec-v ond pump device which is of the type of the pump |00 referred to hereinabove. The pump |20 is also geared to the motor |02, whereby closing of the starting switch controlling operation of the motor |02 simultaneously puts both pumps |00 and |25 into operation for immediate actu` ation of the gun aim adjustment mechanism in response to manipulation of the respective pump discharge control means. As in the case of the pump |00 the pump |20 is provided with a control shaft |24 which is adapted to be rotated axially in opposite directions away from its neutral position to obtain the reversible direction variable type displacement in conjunction with the conduit system |2-'| I4v for reversible operation of the motor ||0, as explained hereinabove in connection with control of the motor 'I0 by the control member |04.

To provide effective manipulations of the control members U11-|24 for the purposes hereinabove referred to,- there is provided a novel control device adapted to be manually manipulated with novel facility by a single operator in such manner as to readily procure either simultaneously or separately any desired elevational or azimuth control adjustments of the gun battery. For this purpose a housing bracket |25 is mounted upon the top of the pump case to extend vertically therefrom substantially concentrically of the control shaft |24. At its upper end the nousing |25 carries a circular ball bearing |26 mounting therein a tubular shaft |28 to extend through the bearing |2550 as to be rotatably carried at the upper end of the housing |25. A bushing |29 (Fig. 7) is fitted between the housing collar and the tubular shaft |28 at a position spaced from the bearing |26 so as to provide a two-point support system for the tubular shaft |28.

At its upper end the tubular shaft |28 carries by means of a keyed connection |30 a bearing housing |52 of generaIlybox-like form. The housing |32 carries a pair of bearings |3'4--I34` at oppo-l site sides thereof which in turn rotatably mount a stub shaft |35 extending through perforated opposite end wall portions of the bearing housing 32. A hand grip |36 is keyed to each exteriorly extending end of the stub shaft |35 by means of pins |31-|31. The hand grips i3d- |36 are formed to comprise vgenerally columnar shaped bodies of smoothly rounded contour and are spaced apart at such a distance as to be conveniently gripped by the corresponding right and left hands of the gunner when seated or standing in front of the control mechanism. The hand grips are oppositely inclined in front View, as seen in Fig. 4, and similarly inclined in side View as seen in Fig. 6 to augment the naturalness of the posture of the gunners arms and wrists and hands when gripping the control handles for gun battery aim control purposes. Thus, it will be un derstood that upon gripping of the control handles ISE-|35 with both hands, the gunner may conveniently either separately or simultaneously apply azimuth and elevational control actuations to the control unit by twisting the control handle unit in azimuth so as to rotate the tubular shaft |28 relative to the bracket housing |25 and by twisting the control handle unit so as to rotate the stub shaft |35 about its horizontal axis.

The stub shaft |35 is perforated to receive the shank of a screw eye |40 transversely therethrough at a position along the stub shaft in line with the axis of rotation of the tubular shaft |28 (Fig. 7). A nut |4| locks the screw eye |40 to the shaft 35 upon final assembly of the parts. The eye |43 pivotally connects by means of a pivot pin |42 with opposite arm portions of a U bracket |44 accommodated within the bearing housing |32. A pitman |46 is connected rigidly at its upper end to the bracket |44 so as to extend therefrom through the tubular shaft |23 in freely accommodated relation therein. At its lower end the pitman |45 carries a circular ball bearing |48, the inner race of which is fixed to the pitman by means of a screw' |49. A cage |50 is fixed to rest upon the outer race of the bearing |48 and pivotally connects at opposite leg portions thereof by means of a pivot pin |52 with one end of a crank |54 (Fig. 4) The crank |54 is carried at its opposite end by means of a pin |56 which in turn is rotatably mounted upon a bearing block |58 fastened to the housing |25.

At its opposite end the pin |56 carries a downwardly directed crank arm |60, the assembllr C011- nection being made by means of a nut |52. At its lower end the crank arm |00 is hollowed at |63 to an internally spherical socket configuration to receive in universally rotatable relation therein a ball shaped center portion of a cross bar |64 carried by a pair of link plates which extend forwardlyV to engage opposite extending end portions of a pivot pin B6 threaded through one end of a pitman |68. At its other end the pitman |68 is bored and split to nt upon the extending end portion of the control shaft,|04 of the hydraulic pump |09, and a bolt |69 is provided toclamp the split end portion of the pitman |68 upon thecontrol shaft. Thus, it will be understood that upon rotation of the control handles |36| 36 about the horizontal axis o-f the stub shaft |35, the pitman |116 will be alternately raised and lowered whereupon the crank and linkage mechanism will cause the control shaft wd of the pump IBO to be correspondingly rotated in either direction away from its neutral position, for control of the gun battery elevational control motor 'lilas explained hereinabove.

A stirrup H5 (Fig. '7) having an upper collar portion encircling the tubular shaft |28 is clamped thereupon, as by means of a split collar and screw connection |76. The body portion of the stirrup H5 encircles the crank and linkage devices connecting to the lower end of the pitman |46 to avoid interference therewith, and at its lower end the stirrup |15 threads upon the upper end of the control shaft |24 of the pump |20, and is keyed thereto by means of a key pin |18. Thus, it will be understood that rotation of the entire control handle unit about the vertical axis of the tubular shaft |28, in response to manual pressures applied by the gunner upon the handles |36, will correspondingly rotate the control shaft VI2l of the hydraulic pump 2|), to obtain the azimuth adjustments of the gun aim control mechanism referred to hereinabove.

To facilitate sighting of the gun battery a gun sight is employed in conjunction with the gun battery mechanism referred to hereinabove. As illustrated in the drawing, it is arranged that the gunner be protected from enemy fire by means of armor plating as indicated at IBD, and the plate is provided with a sighting aperture |82 covered by bullet-proof glass |83. The gun sight is illustrated at E813 as being of the conventional reflector type, and the gun sight is mounted upon a parallelogram linkage indicated generally at |85 carried by a post |86 rotatably mounted within a vertically disposed bearing le? xed to the armor plate or any other suitable stationary wall structure. Thus, the post and parallelogram linkage mechanism carrying the gun sight is freely rotatable about the vertical axis of the post li.- A crank arm ist extends rigidly and laterally from the post itl and pivotally con nects at |89 to one end of a push-pull rod la@ extending forwardly into pivotal connection at |9| with a crank arm |92 extending laterally from and keyed to the top end of the stub shaft portion 3l' of the C bracket d which is rotatably carried within the gun mount bearing block 36. Thus, as the gun battery pivots in azimuth about the aligned axes cf the bearings 28-3li the crank and pushpull devices ESS-l-SQZ transmit corresponding rotational movements to the gun sight mechanism about the axis of the bearing lill, whereby the gun battery and gun sight move in unison in connection with azimuth aim adjustments.

A bell crank |534 is pivotally mounted at |95 .upon the upper end of the arm m2. One arm of the bell crank l5@ is pivotally connected te a pitman 59's' which connects at its other end by means of a pivotal connection |98 to the gun mount frame unit at a position eccentrically of the axis of the trunnion bearing 2li. Consein elevation the pitman |91 rocks the bell crankA wil in 'corresponding directions. The other arm of the bell crank |96 pivotally connects at |99 to a push-pull rod 29S which extends rearwardly into pivotal connection at 292 with a crank 204 which in turn connects'by means of a shaft 205 to an arm of the parallelogram linkage mechanism carrying the gun sight. Thus, rocking of thebell crank 594i will procure, corresponding tilting of the gun sight |84 in vertical directions in exact'correspondence'with the elevational aim adjusting movements of the gun battery.

Gun nre interruption or dead-man triggers are conveniently carriedV by the control handles |36|35 as indicated `at 2li! so asV to be disposed under the hands of the gunner when gripping the handles it-E36. Thus, the weights of the gunners hands depress the triggers 2|!! for closing the gun fire control circuits, but whenever the gunners'hands fall away from the handles the triggers 2W will be released to return under spring tension forces to control circuit open condition. The customary ring triggers are carried at 2| l; rThe conductors connecting to the control triggers may be conveniently threaded through hello-wed interior portions of the stub shaft i555 to lead into the bearing housing |32, and thence the conductors are conveniently carried downwardly into the stationary housing |25 by being threaded through a flexible tube 2| 2 (Fig. 7), and thence into electrical connection with the gun operating mechanism,

Thus, it will be understood that the aim control mechanism of the invention comprises a novel and conveniently manipulatable manual control device which is adapted to be manually manipulated in exact consonance with the direction and degree of gun battery aim adjustment desired, and whereby in order to obtain any desired form of gun aim adjusting movement of the gun battery the operator will'apply to the manual control device most natural forms of turning manipula tions, It will also'be understood that in view of the-*fact that the manual control device is closely coupled through positive acting link mechanisms with the pump output control means maximum accuracy of response of the latter to all manual control movements will be procured. Also, inasmuch as the rate of operation of the motor devices HL-l lo are direct functions only of the degrees of deection by the manual control device irrespective of the magnitude of reaction forces thereagainst, the response of the gun battery adjusting mechanism to the manual control movements by the gunner will in all cases be of improved order. It will be understood that the gun mount arrangementr of the invention provides marked' improvements and stability features over my prior gun mount arrangement referred-to, in that the C bracket le of the present invention is formed with radially extending and diametrically opposed stub shafts 21-37 for mounting the C bracket upon the upper and lower bearings Sii-28 so as to be iirmly supported to an improved degree for withstanding the loads imposed upon the azimuth bearings due to the weight of the twin guns'suspended thereon, while being'freely rotatable about the vertical azimuth adjustment axis. Thus, the C bracket comprises simultaneously an improved primary support for the gun battery; a' portion of the ejected link receiver housing; and convenient means for connecting the gun sight actuating linkage directly to the top portion of 9 the C bracket. Because of this feature the gun sight control linkage is adapted to most accurately follow the movements; of the gun battery aim adjustments; and the design of the entire arrangement enables the elimination of a substantial number of structural and operating parts.

It will be further understood that although only one form of the invention has been shown and described in detail, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention is not so limited but that various changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims,

I claim:

1. A mount for a pair of machine guns or the like, comprising a support, a gun mount cradle `adapted to mount therein a pair of guns in parallel side-by-side relation, bearing means mounting said cradle relative to said support so as to be pivotable relative to said support about a horizontal axis through said bearing means for gun elevational aiming purposes, said support having a curved portion of semi-circular sectional form and disposed concentrically of said axis of rotation and terminating at upper and lower ends thereof in stub shaft portions extending diametrically opposite in vertically aligned relation, a pair of circular plates disposed adjacent opposite side Wall portions of said support, each of said plates being apertured to register with the ammunition belt ejected link ports of the corresponding of said guns and connected to said guns to rotate therewith so as to be adapted to receive belt links as they are ejected from said guns for transmission of said links through said casing interior and outwardly thereof at the bottom portion thereof, bearing means rotatably engaging each of said support stub shaft portions to mount said support for free pivoting movements relative to a supporting base about a vertical axis; a vane type uid pressure motor case of segmental form mounted upon said support to extend within a portion of said casing and having a piston therewithin extending into keyed relation with said gun mount cradle, and means for introducing fluid under pressure to said motor case in controlled manner alternately at opposite sides of said piston to cause said cradle to oscillate in controlled manner about said axis of rotation for elevational adjustments of the gun battery aim.

2. A mount for a machine gun or the like, comprising a support, a cradle adapted to mount therein a gun, means mounting said cradle relative to said support so as to be pivotable about a horizontal axis relative to said support for gun elevational aiming purposes, said support having a hollow casing portion of generally circular sectional form disposed to be intersected by said axis of rotation and a pair of diametrically opposed shaft portions extending radially therefrom, a circular plate carried by said gun adjacent a side Wall portion of said support, said plate being apertured to register with the ammunition belt ejected link port of said gun so as to be adapted to receive belt links as they are ejected from said gun for transmission thereof through said casing interior to a link discharge bottom portion thereof, a gun mount base, bearing means carried by said base and rotatably engaging said shaft portions for free rotation of said casing about a vertical axis, a vane type fluid pressure motor means of segmental form mounted within the confines of said casing and having a piston member keyed to said cradle,

fluid pressure motor means coupled to one of said shafts, and means for introducing fluid under pressure selectively t0 said motor means for alternate opposite direction operation thereof to cause said cradle to oscillate in controlled manner about said horizontal and vertical axes of rotation for elevational and azimuth aiming adjustments of the mounted gun.

3. A mount for a pair of machine guns or the like, comprising a support, a gun cradle adapted to mount therein a pair of guns in parallel sideby-side relation and having a cross bar extending therebetween, said support having bearing means mounting said cross bar so that said cradle is ivotable about a horizontal axis relative to said support for gun elevational aiming purposes, a hollow drum mounted upon said support and extending between the positions of the mounted guns and intersected by said axis of rotation and having opposite side wall portions thereof apertured to register with the ammunition belt ejected link ports of the corresponding of said guns so as to be adapted to receive belt links as they are ejected from said guns for transmission thereof through said casing interior to a link discharge bottom portion thereof under all conditions of elevational adjustment of said guns, said drum having a pair of diametrically opposed stub shafts extending radially therefrom in vertical alignment, bearing means engaging said stub shafts for supporting the latter relative to a fixed base, a motor mechanism mounted within said .casing and having action and reaction portions thereof connected to said cradle and to said support respectively, a second motor mechanism en gaging one of said stub shafts, and means for energizing said motor mechanisms in controlled manner to cause said cradle to oscillate in horizontal and vertical manner about said axes of rotation.

e. A mount for a pair of machine guns or the like, comprising a gun mount base, a gun mount support, a gun cradle adapted to mount therein a pair of guns in parallel side-by-side relation and carried by bearing means to be pivotable about a horizontal axis relative to said support for gun elevational aiming purposes, a hollow drum extending from said support between the positions of the mounted guns and intersected by said axis of rotation and having diametrically opposite stub shaft portions extending vertically therefrom, bearing means carried by said support to rotatably engage said stub shaft portions, a motor mechanism mounted within said casing and having action and reaction portions thereof connected to said cradle and to said support respectively, a second motor mechanism carried by said base and coupled to one of said stub shaft portions, and means for selectively energizing said motor mechanisms in controlled manner to cause said cradle to oscillate about horizontal and vertical axes of rotation.

5. A mount for a machine gun or the like, comprising a base, a gun mount support, a cradle adapted to mount therein a gun, means mounting said cradle relative to said support so as to be pivotable about a horizontal axis relative to said support for gun elevational aiming purposes, said support having a hollow casing portion being generally of circular sectional form and disposed to be intersected by said axis of rotation and having a side wall portion thereof apertured to register with the ammunition belt ejected link port of said gun so as to be adapted to receive belt links as they are ejected from said gun for trans- 11 mission thereof through said casing interior to a link discharge bottom portion thereof, said support having a pair of diametrically opposed stub shaft portions extending radially of said hollow casing portion and in vertical alignment, bearing means carried by said base and engaging said stub shaft portions, gun sight means connected to one of said stub shaft portions for aim adjustment movements consonant therewith, motor means mounted within said casing and having a piston member keyed to said cradle, a second motor means carried by said base and coupled to the other of said stub shafts, and means for energizing said motor means to cause said cradle to oscillate in controlled manner about horizontal and vertical axes of rotation for elevational and. azimuth aiming adjustments of the mounted gun.

JOHN C. TROTTER.

12 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,387,678 Anderson Aug. 16, 1921 2,233,918 Fey Mar. 4, 1941 1,061,701 Stumpf et al May 13, 1913 1,557,214 McClane Oct. 13, 1925 2,243,365 Trotter May 27, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 422,009 Great Britain Jan. 3, 1935 436,071 Great Britain June 4, 1935 484,954 Great Britain Nov. 3, 1936 489,208 Great Britain July 21, 1938 545,459 Great Britain Apr, 18, 1942 

